Sokratis spawn of Zon Kuthon
History Walls, high unending walls was all Sokratis could remember. She had grown up in the Cathedral of Zon-Kuthon, with high walls all around the Cathedral. The courtyards and grounds were used to teach acolytes how to raise the dead, there were crypts below ground but the guards were undead and ever watchful, one had to be summoned below, not just walk down into the yawning darkness. Aside from the living area which was more akin to a boarding house there was the grand Cathedral near the gates. On days of worship her, and the others were sequestered away in the housing as the cities faithful filed passed into the grand Cathedral. The only other building of note was the Library, where Sokratis loved to go in her free time. The Library was grand and filled with endless tomes, of knowledge of far off worlds that sounded like pure fantasy, of maps, or tales and mostly of dark knowledge and worship of the ever looming god of Zon-Kuthon. Spirals of endless walls, of endless books was enough to capture her mind and yearn to leave the looming walls of the church, to be out from under the ever watchful undead gaze, she wanted to spread her wings without being watched, without being punished. Most of her schooling took place in the Library under the tutelage of nuns. Most never spoke, or gave hoarse whispers of lessons she needed to learn, they tended to emulate the dead that was risen for Zon-Kuthon which included not talking often, unless necessary or to raise their voice in worship of the undead god. The one thing Sokratis had aside from her books, was a single window, many stories off the ground that managed to overlook the east wall, showing an endless forest, something untouched by walls, and civilization, and with the books to confirm it there was a world beyond what she had known, and she had proof beyond her window. There were other children, some like her, many not like her, different ages, they all had the identical treatment she did, to the library, to the cathedral for hours of worship and cleaning, then back to the looming prison like building to a small room one by one they filed in to stare out the window, or to read books allowed outside of the library and a small lantern that had a light that never died. A Nun once told her that it was the light from the love of Zon-Kuthon that filled the lantern when she asked. For thirteen years she went back and forth, yearning for what was beyond the walls, harboring a secret desire to leave, to run, but she didn't know where to go, she had nothing in the way of barter, or trade. No skills, and no way beyond the walls, the nuns were too quick and the undead too watchful and unrelenting, no one ever tried to leave aside from a few nuns who went to town once a week, and brought back carts filled with food and other supplies with undead yoked to the carts. One day under a blood red harvest moon two nuns in strange clothes came and opened the door to her cell and ushered her past the Cathedral and down to the crypts below. Sokratis had been summoned, she was filled with fear. The Crypts below was a twisting winding maze filled with exploded coffins, strange runes lined the wall and glowed, lighting the way, so many spiral staircases and strange architecture. She was led through two doors that reached at least a story high, maybe higher and to a room with a large empty throne with many nuns and priest lining the all and a simple marble slab in the middle. The nuns flanking her gripped her with the cold unyielding grip of the undead, as she was stripped naked and moved to the altar. Sokratis remembered little of what happened next, the hollow rhythm that thrummed deep in her core, the knife of many points, the pain, the hot wet sticky rush of blood, fighting for breath and there was none for her. When she came too and the fog lifted from her memory she was standing in front of the door to her cell, still naked, with a Nun behind her. She entered the door as the nun knelt down in the doorway, producing a mirror. Sokratis could barely believe it, she had changed, she had muscle definition beginning to form, her skin was sore and tight, she her chest was beginning to swell with womanhood, she never went through a traditional puberty due to the barley nutritional food served, but she also had golden markings in her feathers. The Nun croaked a phrase that chilled her to her core. " Sokratis , Envoy of the beginning and the end." With that, the nun promptly left, leaving the mirror on the floor. Over the next few days fever took Sokratis, as she was ravaged by her skin tightening, her body changing rapidly, her bed was carried down the hall and into some medical ward with more nuns and mindless ghouls keeping watch, the Nuns here seemed slightly warmer, more compassionate. Sokratis grew, her bones snapped, popped and re-knit, she was fed food that actually had flavor, and she gorged herself on it till she was sick, and would pass out to find more changes and hunger. Sokratis was moved to the lower levels of the housing, was given robes much like the nuns of the church but still ushered about and watched over, though she was given more meals of decent food as she went from the library to the house. Though with her new cell, came a familiar view, more walls, and the mindless atrocities to nature watching her just beyond her window. Her last bit of freedom had been stripped from her with the transformation, with the accursed act that had taken place in the crypts. Her plan was simple as many are, she first tried to escape by blending in with the congregation as they left a holy day of worship. The Undead guards grabbed her as she tried to file past, the clergy weren't happy with the attempt and she was lashed in front of the nuns, and in front of the group of children she no longer resembled. She had been made an example of, her pure white robes put on her as the back stained with blood as a reminder to any who tried to escape. Sokratis waited for her wounds to heal and stop oozing, she managed to secure another set of robes, from the laundry as she had another idea, another bid for freedom. Since her change her books were carefully selected in the library for her, dark rites, how to channel the darkness Zon-Kuthon grants into the dead flesh to bind it to you, to bring it to life. She was near the end of her training. She slipped her lantern from her bloodstained robes and managed to light a book on fire and throw it at the shelves. The reaction was near instantaneous as the fire fed upon ancient tomes of dark knowledge, climbing to the highest spire. The nuns were in a panic as the undead fled the library, in fear of the flames. In the confusion Sokratis shed her blood-soaked robes and ran in the confusion looking like a pristine nun. She managed to get past the guards as many ran to the fire, and the undead shied away from it, she went around the building she had lived her life in, she ran through the courtyard with untold numbers of graves the undead had crawled out of and been reburied for the next students. She made her way to the wall, and began to climb. She had newfound strength with her newfound body, and she knew freedom laid beyond the walls, she pushed herself up, higher and higher, eons of erosion had cracked the pristine facade of the wall, the mortar wasn't what it was when laid. She just knew freedom was above the wall. Sokratis was a little over halfway up when the screaming started, the wail of an undead then the screeching of a nun as others came to the wall to try and collect the wayward nun. She needed to escape, she needed to get out, each cry and spell thrown spurned her to reach for freedom as her muscles ached and burned and demanded she give up, she would be beaten or worse but she could rest. The climb was grueling, her body while new wasn't used to the strain, but she made it up to the wall, gripping spikes that lined the top and hoisted herself over, her robes catching on the spikes and tearing her nude as she threw herself over, unaware that the wall was built atop a sheer cliff face over a fast moving river. She fell, tumbling, bashing her already sore body against the hard rocks and with the cold splash of water, she was out cold. Sokratis awoke eventually, her body numb from the river and unshielded from the cold, she rolled over to stand as she opened her beak and vomited on the sand. The earth soaked in the contents of her stomach as she began to crawl, cold, hungry and alone into the dark woods with no loving light of Zon-Kuthon. Over the next few months life had changed, there was no library, there was no one to bring her food, and she was still ravenous, while stronger, the animals were faster, and smarter than her, certain berry's she picked worsened her condition rather than eased her stomach. Climbing trees to get her baring didn't always work and no matter the direction she looked she could never seem to find the walls of the Cathedral, which she marked as a positive in her book currently. Sokratis learned to hunt, what to eat, how to be more cunning than her prey, and after months of this and no civilization, not even the harsh rasp of a nun for conversation, she had gone near feral, running the woods like an animal, hunting, killing, eating, she was honing her more muscular body in a far more primal method. One day while feeding on a fresh kill a woman approached Sokratis, human in appearance, fiery red hair, pale green eyes, a dress that resembled one large leaf wrapped around her. Being Skittish of people Sokratis grabbed her meal and tried to run, only to find her feet entangled in vines. The human woman sat near her and spoke soothingly, calmly to her. Asked her about herself, where she was from. It took almost an hour for Sokratis to find her mind much less her voice to speak before explaining her escape to freedom, and the unknown span of time she had been running absolutely wild. The Woman introduced herself as Roxie, and offered to show Sokratis a better way of life, a useful one, one that could help people, and herself. The offer confused Sokratis, everything was done for her, she never had a choice, even learning the cruel cycle of nature and survival wasn't a choice. She considered it for far to long before agreeing with the strange woman and was led to a small and humble camp. There were others there, others under the watchful eye of Roxie, to learn the ways that she had promised to Sokratis. These other people were kind to her, compassionate, understanding, giving her the distance she needed to heal, but more importantly gave her connections to others she had always needed in life, though still quite a bit awkward with social cues and conversation, the night proved to be fruitful with the others. Sokratis began her learning the next day as Roxie offered her a walk in the woods, showing her and the others nature, explaining the vicious cycle Sokratis had been embroiled in, showing her that nature can answer a call with druidism, Sokratis understood learning and magic, as she had been taught that in the Cathedral, and she was adept to learn a new way a primal calling in the deep woods with a strange woman. Over two years Sokratis grew, the kind druid teacher even giving Sokratis a book that look grown from the earth itself, with a wooden cover and leaves surrounding it, the pages look less refined but, it was special, it was hers, and she could understand lessons much better when they were written for her. Sokratis grew stronger, smarter, more cunning as her lessons advanced. The coaxing of nature with a different school of magic was much nicer to her than the cold commanding feel of necromancy. With great sadness, Roxie announced that her training had come to an end, and it was time for Sokratis to move on and help others beyond the woods. there was a small humble feast, wine from the berries of the forest, Sokratis was happy at the jubilation but the moment was bittersweet with her, she knew she would be leaving the commune, and the other students, she had witnessed this sort of celebration before. The other students made marry with them, some also sad to see their large friend go. As the embers flickered and died Roxie scooped up the ash and smeared symbols onto Sokratis's feathers, marking her for nature, the woods, Sokratis could hear the song of the wind, the beat of many hearts of creatures that call the forest home, she could feel every tree and plant breathe, she knew living life and was part of it for once in her life. Roxie offered Sokratis a small wooden cup of dark brew. After downing it, Sokratis's world went dark. She awoke in a deep cave, the ash markings Roxie had inscribed had a gentle pale glow to them casting it on the wall, there was no fire to help her out. The cave itself was sprawling and maze like, there were pools of softly glowing water, and various fungus to eat, she had been taught which were safe and which were poisonous to consume. Sokratis kept feeling the pull of nature, that primal call within her body, pushing her to the mouth of the cave. It took what felt like days for her to emerge, days of endless walking and huddled in a corner for a quick nap. As she emerged from the mouth of the cave her teacher was over her, her arms opened to her, but her back was also split open, roots and vines coiling around the tree as her skin bled away into the wood, her hair to leaves, as her beloved teacher sank into the tree. Sokratis understood, she had been a dryad. Over a few weeks she had been living on the fringes of society, unable to go back to the camp or her friends, but she had a higher calling, a better one to help others outside of the woods. However one thing that Sokratis hated above all else, was oppression, she had come to loathe any kind of oppression, where one person would exert their will over another. She began to target slave traders, legal or not in the nearby town, destroying caravans with her magic and strength. It didn't take long for them to get smarter, and bring more muscle. It was at night, away from town on a hill overlooking the ocean, business had been being conducted further and further away from town, to avoid the new wrathful protector of slaves. Of course that protector, Sokratis had been watching the deal go down and emerged from the treeline and began to approach, nature growing at her behest to entangle and free those who had been oppressed. By the time she reached the wagon, a large figure emerged, grabbing her by the throat and lifting the large muscular bird of a woman clear off the ground. He shook her hard as her vision faded as he tramped over to the edge of the cliff, and threw her to the cold, unrelenting tide below. Sokratis awoke on the beach of Fiend's Reach, her living book at her side, wrapped over her shoulder by a vine, and the clothes she had been tossed over with, she was still duty bound, to help people any way she could, no matter where she was. Start of a new day.jpg|Start of a New day|linktext=Start of a new day HerBow.jpg|Herbow|linktext=Her Bow Personality Sokratis has a bit of an odd personality, she is very self reliant, she is often quiet unless drunk, and can oddly fit into rigid hierarchy situations, though she prefers not to be put into those in the first place. She is quick to make friends and faster to warm to them making up for lost time she never had with others. She is quick to enrage when she views other people as oppressed due to her own oppressed upbringing in the Cathedral, Even if she is misunderstanding the situation she believes everyone should be free and have a choice. Friends Her only friend in the world currently is her dryad teacher Roxie, who has returned to nature currently. Enemies None. Aspirations Sokratis aspires for freedom. Freedom of choice, freedom of religion, freedom of slavery, the freedom of life, and is willing to do what it takes to ensure freedom for citizens using the most primal force she knows, that of life and growth.